INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

Internal communication

Internal communication is the via media that links an organization. It is the foundation that holds the work culture, policy and processes, goals and vision together. Any blockage, wrong detour or mismanagement in this channel can be catastrophic for an organization—from spreading false rumours and impacting employee morale to hampering organizational productivity and smearing its brand name. The success of its internal communication programme is imperative for an organization. But the question is: how to quantify this success? http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20070326/technologylife01.shtml

A lower rate of attrition, employee engagement and satisfaction levels (determined through surveys) are all pointers to an organization’s successful internal communication initiative. This success can be judged in three ways, believes Raja Gopalakrishnan, SVP, Global Service Delivery & Operations, and Managing Director, India; EFD eFunds:

Communicating a message: Top downwards in movement, this method could be used to communicate simple one-way messages from mission statements to medical benefits, from the organization’s goals to holidays for the year.
Assessing baseline: Bottom upwards; this method could be used to assess the current level of awareness, information and opinion among various employee groups on some key issues.
The spiral of success: Using a combination of both bottom-up and top-down processes, this would combine feedback to establish current baseline, define and design objectives for communication, and measure effectively to achieve objectives on an ongoing basis.

The fallout of bad internal communication: -

Short-term impact

• Spread of misinformation.


• Erosion of employee trust and confidence.


• Conflicts between employees and management.


• Misinformed employees can make wrong decisions.


• Internal brand image suffers.


• Long-term impact


• Dissatisfaction among employees leads to higher attrition.
  Lack of coherent and shared vision.


• Low employee morale results in lower productivity.


• Impact on company's stocks.


• Organization’s external brand value suffers.
  

The importance of internal communication

Ø Internal communication is essential for every organization, but very few are able to manage it efficiently.

http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050207/technologylife01.shtml
Ø Internal communication is considered a vital tool for binding an organization, enhancing employee morale, promoting transparency and reducing attrition. Ironically, while everybody understands and talks about the significance of internal communication, very few are able to manage it efficiently. Both the long-term and short-term fallout of ineffective internal communication can be damaging for an organization. It can start from the spread of rumors to disillusionment among employees to a gradual destruction of the company’s brand image. Worse, it may also lead to the slow death of the organization.

• Employees are inarguably a company’s greatest asset, yet often find themselves working in the dark with no feedback, little information and no map of corporate direction. Research shows that only 4 in 10 employees are satisfied with internal corporate communication and that internal communication correlates strongly with overall job satisfaction. Companies such as Nokia and GlaxoSmithKline are turning towards the development of Communities as a means of encouraging and managing internal communications to reach business objectives, with great success.
  Note:-It is well known that the root cause of most internal problems being faced by a company often stems from ineffective communication. “Industry standards like P-CMM in Level 2 include communication as one of the key process areas. In high-context cultures like India, the delivery of the message is as important as the message itself. It is therefore necessary to identify the best possible methods to reach your message to the target audience—in this case, your employees,” explains Sunder Rajan, general manager-HR, Infinite Computer Solutions.


• Whose responsibility?
  
  The responsibility of disseminating the information is not limited to a select few, the corporate communications team or the HR department, every individual in the organisation should be responsible. “Every employee has a role to play in the internal communications of an organisation; some may even have multiple roles. The roles and responsibilities of every employee should be so defined that they are aware of the kind of information they should and should not communicate and to whom, when, how and why. A healthy communication would have desired outcomes,” points out Khullar. Internal communication should take place as a series of steps and not as an isolated event. “Well-planned and delivered internal communication can drive the culture in an organization. The most important thing is the credibility of an information source. To get the desired result from the audience, the trust factor must be strong,” states Manoj Mandavgane, general manager, HR, ICICI InfoTech. He opines that while formulating internal communication strategy, the following factors should be taken care of:


• The purpose should be clear.


• The timing and medium are important.


• Language must be used carefully.


• The tools of communication should be effective.


• When people are vulnerable, their tolerance for ambiguity decreases, so

they need to be told clearly to feel secure.

• Communication has to be supported by action
  
  
  Ways and means
  The channels of communication are intranets, e-mail, newsletters, periodic speeches by the CEO / managing director, open house sessions, etc. Sridharan asserts that while formal channels are important, it is imperative to make informal communication a continuous effort.
  
  
  INTERNAL COMMUNICATION KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS MATRIX –
  TRAINING, DEVELOPMENT & RECOMMENDED READING
  
  GENERIC - BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT
  SPECIALIST - CORPORATE & INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
  
  BAND 1 – Entry level (six to 12 months)
  Entry-level practitioner (degree level). Learning core skills and acquiring basic knowledge in the wider context of communications and management.
  Who moved My Cheese – Johnson
  Idiot’s Guide to Project Management – Baker
  Broad reading of the quality press – FT, Times, Telegraph, etc
  The Economist Style Guide
  Inside organizations – 21 ideas for managers – Handy
  Handbook of Corporate Communications - Gower
  Writing for the web – IABC
  Essential English for journalists, editors & writers – Evans
  
  Copy-editing – a practical guide - Juee
  BAND 2 – 12 months to 2/3 Years
  Becoming effective as a practitioner, growing the skills set and deepening their understanding of business/management and internal comms.
  The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People – Covey
  First Things First - Covey
  Making the Connections – Quirke
  Work Psychology: Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace – Arnold, Cooper &
  Robertson (Financial Times/Prentice Hall)
  The Fundamentals of Corporate Communication – CIM Professional
  PR Week
  Inside Organizational Communication – IABC
  The Complete Guide to Integrated Change: Best Practice for Major Announcements -
  IABC
  The Communication Plan - IABC
  Introduction to Communication Studies – Fiske
  Simplicity – the new competitive advantage in a world of more, better, faster - Jensen
  Example: -Both star bucks coffee co. and Kinko’s inc.hired outside consultants to conduct internal communication audits to identify strengths and weaknesses in those companies existing communication practices. Detailed questionnaires uncovered precisely how employees viewed internal communications and helped management develop possible solutions to communication problems. In addition, Kinko’s used in-person interviews and videoconferencing facilities to conduct nationwide employee focus groups and uncover the sentiments of employees from region to region.
  
  Personal Experience: - I worked in IBM at my internship and I found they
  Use corporate intranet for internal communication and employees reports to their team leader and team leader reports to their manager for communication. Team leader cannot report directly to general managers. There is a proper structure of communication.
  
  Reference: - http://www.hlbcomm.com/internal.html
  http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20050207/technologylife01.shtml
  http://www.knexuscommunity.com/KS/ourinsights/brainnuggets/BNsep05.asp